


the secrets we keep

by wednesdayaddxms



Category: The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Creepy, Haunted Houses, Horror, Multi, OSWC2019, writing challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2020-11-25 17:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20915576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesdayaddxms/pseuds/wednesdayaddxms
Summary: No one calls it anything but The House.Everyone knows about it.It knows about you too.





	1. rumors

**Author's Note:**

> i have another fic going at the same time with the same premise but that one's for detroit: become human. that one is a little bit of a different track than this one with a lighter tone and more campy tropes and jumpscares and things like that lmao. writing with these characters just intrigued me too much to not do it haha. i'm super excited so let me know what you think!

The town was small. There was a community college, a prison, a town square, a residential area, but not much else. The town was small enough that they had all heard the rumors, even those who didn’t grow up there. The rumors about The House. No one called it anything but The House. Saying the former owner’s name was said to invoke angry spirits that would follow you around.

More likely, Tessa Gray thought, no one actually knew the owner’s name because of how skewed rumors become. She walked past The House every day on her way to class and had never seen hide nor hair of anything supernatural about it. It was the first rumor she’d heard upon coming to this tiny town to attend school. She learned quickly that people here didn’t have much to do but gossip.

And gossip they did. They gossiped about Jessie Lovelace and her various dates in an attempt to find a husband. They gossiped about Charlotte and Henry’s early marriage. They gossiped about Tessa and why she suddenly moved here with nothing more than a U-Haul half-full of her meager possessions. 

Her first day attending the community college there consisted of lots of speculation about why she had transferred almost halfway through the semester and how she was going to catch up. She talked to very few people due to what people called her ‘secretive nature.’

She wrote furiously in a notebook that she snapped shut when anyone would come near. She spoke nothing of her personal life. She had a book in her hand at almost all times and she was careful to hide the covers from onlookers. She somehow had enough money to pay for an apartment despite not having a job in town. People thought she was strange and cold for not going to social events, even when invited.

In reality, Tessa Gray had been very lonely. Until she had met a blue-eyed boy in the library when they had reached for the same book. When her hand touched his, she had jumped back like she had been scalded with boiling water.

“You can have it,” she mumbled before turning away.

“Do you know about the rumors, Miss Gray?” She froze before turning around suddenly. He was flipping through the pages of the book like he hadn’t even spoken.

“What rumors?” she asked carefully. She knew that people talked but that was about it. No one had been brave enough to say it directly to her face though. When he looked up, he had the most shockingly beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Not even Nate’s… “I asked you a question,” Tessa said, snapping herself out of her thoughts when she realized that he hadn’t responded. That caused a smirk to grow on the boy’s face.

“Do you know about The House?” he asked, lazily walking towards her.

“Yes. Everyone does. It’s the creepy house on-”

“No. Do you know the story?” he asked. Tessa edged backward despite herself. A couple of aisles over, the motion sensor lights snapped off with a clack. She mutely shook her head. “Well, it goes like this…”

“A woman and her husband lived in the house. Very much in love, these two. After living all by their lonesome for a while, they opened up the house as a bed and breakfast. Several months after that, people started to go missing with their last known whereabouts as this town. Specifically, the bed and breakfast.”

_ Clack _

The lights above Tessa and the boy went out. They had been standing still for too long. Tessa frantically waved her arms above her head and was rewarded with another clack as they turned back on. The boy looked amused as she lowered her hands.

“Okay, and?” Tessa asked, hoping this story would end soon.

“Well,” the boy said, dragging out the middle vowel and leaning up against one of the bookshelves, “They had the guest log saying that everyone had checked out and went on their merry way but there was enough circumstantial evidence for them to be detained. Right before they could be arrested, however, the husband shot himself. At least… that’s what they thought at the time. Turns out, the wife was a bit of a black widow. Killed her husband, took what money they had, and went on the lam. Terrible shock for the town at the time.”

“Is that the whole story?” The boy turned back to her almost as if he forgot she was there. He looked shocked at her tone.

“Is that the…? Well, yes. I didn’t miss anything. My storytelling skills are impeccable,” he said. Tessa raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling more comfortable around this stranger than she had around anyone in… well, in a long time. She nodded at him once before readjusting her bag on her shoulder, figuring out how to exit the conversation. Except she wasn’t sure that she really wanted to leave.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Quite full of questions, aren’t you?” he retorted. She simply stood there waiting for him to answer. After a lengthy silence, he finally said, “Will Herondale.”

“Nice to meet you.” After that, she turned on her heel and started down the aisle. It was in the complete opposite direction from the stairwell that led to the main floor but she couldn’t care less; she wanted out of there.

“You too!” Will called after her. She didn’t look back. Later that day, she would turn over his name in her mind, thinking of how elegant, yet simple, it sounded. When she thought of how he said ‘Miss Gray’, it set something in her chest spinning. Despite his odd demeanor and the story he told her, she was eager to see him again.

And see him she did.

It wasn’t many days later when Will appeared to her at dinner in the dining hall on the far side of campus. He had what was practically an entourage with him as well which made Tessa’s stomach turn. There were only four of them in total but it still made her uneasy.

“Tessa Gray,” Will said with delight. “How nice to see you. What are you writing?” Tessa slammed her notebook shut and fixed him with an ice-cold stare.

“Nothing.”

“Touchy,” one of his friends sniffed. She was a figure Tessa had heard about through the rumor mill: Jessie Lovelace. She was even more beautiful than the rumors had said even though it seemed to hide a rather unpleasant personality. “Can’t blame us for being curious, can you? You’re practically a ghost about town.”

“Well, I just got here,” Tessa said as Jessie took the spot across from her. A dark-haired girl with a jagged scar sat down next to her with a tight expression, causing her scar to be bright red against her pale skin.

“Four months ago is not ‘just getting here,’ Tessa,” Jessie snapped before she delicately picked up her burger. Will and a boy with silver hair and silver eyes sat down on the other side of Tessa. She nodded a polite greeting before turning back to Jessie.

“Four months isn’t really a long time either,” she said. Through a bite of her food, Jessie scowled at her.

“You must excuse Jessie’s behavior, Tessa,” Will interrupted, “She’s not her when she’s hungry.” Jessie responded by dropping her burger on her plate and standing.

“I don’t need these kinds of insults while I’m trying to eat!”

“So go sit with-” Will started. Jessie interrupted him quite rudely.

“I will!” He hadn’t even finished his sentence before she stormed off with her tray in hand. After she disappeared, the dark-haired girl let a heavy sigh slip through her lips as she rested her head on the table.

“Oh, come now, Sophie, she isn’t that horrible,” Will said with a hint of teasing in his voice. Tessa wondered if that tone ever went away.

“We have a project to work on. All of us have to give equal effort and if one of us fails, we all fail!” Sophie protested. So that was the reason for the motley crew that didn’t really seem to like each other. “If we’re not going to work on the project, I’d rather-” She cut herself off, snapping her mouth shut.

“What?” Will prodded. “You’d rather be off snogging Gideon Lightwood?” Sophie also stood, grabbed her tray, and walked off in a huff.

“Will, that was so rude!” Tessa exclaimed, turning to watch Sophie go. She drew stares as she passed. Whether that was because of her scar or because people could certainly overhear everything happening at Tessa’s table, she couldn’t tell.

“She’s right, you know,” the other boy said, amiably picking at his salad. “You can have that effect sometimes.”

“I’m Tessa Gray, by the way,” Tessa said suddenly, sticking her hand out. They’d been sitting here for a while now and she hadn’t bothered to introduce herself. The boy set down his fork and took her hand. His fingers were much longer than hers with calluses where there usually weren’t any. He must’ve been a musician.

“Jem Carstairs. Nice to meet you. Although, I wish it would’ve been under nicer circumstances,” he added with a sideways glance at Will.

“Who? Me?” Will asked with fake surprise. “I can’t believe this! And from you, James!” Will also stood with his tray and walked off but not before dropping Tessa a cheeky wink. Jem chuckled at his behavior as though it were more amusing than offensive.

“Are you two actually friends or did you just meet through the project?” Tessa asked. Jem shook his head as he stared at Will walking away.

“We’ve been friends since we were children. He’s practically my brother,” he added with a hint of affection. Tessa thought on that for a moment. What brief interactions she’d had with both boys led her to believe they were so different. How could they possibly be so close?

Everyone had a history, Tessa decided. Everyone’s history was different and the paths they went down were uniquely theirs. Maybe someday she’d find out Jem and Will’s history. She was certainly interested in Jem anyways. But there had been something lingering at the forefront of her mind for a while now.

She leaned forward and asked, “How long have you lived here, Jem?” He didn’t seem taken aback by her question.

“As long as I’ve known Will. Why?”

“What do you know about The House?”


	2. the house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you think of this chapter!

Tessa walked back to her apartment in the twilight, the time just before the faint blue light faded from the sky. She recounted what Jem had told her about The House. Something about Will’s story stuck in her head. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it though. She usually shied away from stories of murder in her books; it was surprising that she was so interested in a real-life story of it.

Well, the real-life part was the subject of debate. Jem was a staunch believer that the ordeal had been made up by the town in the absence of any concrete details. He hypothesized that the husband had died and, instead of remarrying and continuing to live in the same house, the wife had simply moved away to escape the memories. That theory struck a chord in Tessa.

She probed for details on the legend instead. Jem only gave her what Will had given her, albeit in a less sarcastic tone. Then she asked what the house was like on the inside. For that question, Jem had no answers.

When Tessa came up to The House on her walk, she paused. It was a Victorian-era house similar to the other houses on the street, probably beautiful in its day, but now it was sad and decrepit. 

The roof was missing several rows of shingles. The porch railing was broken in many places. It might’ve been painted at some point but all that was left was crumbling brick. The windows and front door were boarded over to keep intruders out.

She rested a hand on the black, rusted gate that blocked off the walkway. Maybe she expected to feel a presence about the house or maybe a sense of who the inhabitants were but she felt nothing.

She chuckled to herself and shook her head. Her mind had been running wild with ghost stories and it was affecting her in real life.

“Come on, Tessa,” she said before continuing her walk home. As her apartment building came into view, her phone dinged with a notification.

**will.herondale. followed you**

She felt her face flush a bit before she tucked her phone back into her jeans. It didn’t mean anything. It was just an Instagram follow. It wasn’t like he was trying to DM her or anything.

_ Ding! _

**will.heronadale. wants to send you a message**

Oh, wow. She stopped in her tracks to stare at her phone. Her mind was racing with possibilities of what he could’ve sent. Knowing Will, however, she doubted it was more than some sarcastic comment. Whatever, she decided, resuming her walk. It could wait until she got home.

She plodded up to her apartment and tossed her backpack down on the floor next to her coffee table. Her place was modest with sparsely decorated walls and furniture that had come with the apartment. The only things she had bought on her own were two large bookshelves to house her veritable mountain of books.

The titles ranged from Victorian literature to classics to modern fiction. She even had a small section of nonfiction and biographies. Her books were her closest companions in the world. Whether that was sad or not, she couldn’t tell but things had always been this way.

After slinging her backpack onto the floor, she padded into the kitchen to see if she could scrounge up a sweet treat for herself. She opened and closed her fridge and her pantry several times to no avail. She simply had nothing to satisfy her craving for sweets and she certainly didn’t have any energy to walk to the nearest convenience store.

Tessa had been idly staring into her near-empty pantry with a blank look. Her exhaustion from the day was setting in. This had been the trend for her recently: she would go throughout the day, putting on a brave face, and become more and more drained until she didn’t have the energy to even brush her teeth and change into pajamas before falling into her bed.

It went beyond that sometimes, though. Sometimes it felt as though Tessa had a ball and chain attached to her ankle and she had been dropped into the ocean, sinking and sinking with no idea of when she would finally hit the bottom.

She was smart enough to know the signs of depression when they appeared. She just hoped that this was a passing condition. Things would even out soon enough, she thought.

Tessa jerked back from the pantry as her phone dinged once more. Oh, that’s right, Will had messaged her. She opened it and accepted his request, reading over the two messages he’d sent.

**Tessa, do you think you could help us with this project?**

And then once more, almost thirty minutes later:

**Tessa? It’s important.**

They exchanged a few messages about the nature of the project. Will explained that it was about local history and they’d chosen to do their project on The House. Will wanted to lean into the ghost story side of it while Jem wanted to focus on how the story had become twisted over time. Tessa thought both ideas were great; why couldn’t they merge them? Eventually, she agreed to help although she didn’t exactly know why they needed her.

As she collapsed into bed that night, she couldn’t help but feel a bit excited for what the next day held.

\---

Tessa sat on a bench on the outskirts of campus, bouncing her feet anxiously. She’d shown up to their designated meeting spot almost twenty minutes early for fear of being late. Will had told her last night to make sure that she ate before they met up since it was going to be a long night but something about seeing people who were practically strangers made her stomach knot up in a way it never used to.

She had always been a bookworm but there was a profound change in her, taking away her outspoken nature. Occasionally, she could see that side of her slip out. In class when she got into a particularly passionate discussion or the other day when Will had regaled her with the story of The House. It didn’t happen often, but it gave Tessa hope that she might return to her old self someday.

“Good to see you again, Tessa,” Jem said, being the first to arrive. He had his own backpack with him that he set at his feet before sitting next to Tessa.

“Good to see you too,” she replied. Where interacting with Will had tightened her chest and made her face flush, interacting with Jem set her at ease and steadied her. It was like the whole world had been spinning before but, now that Jem was here, the world had righted itself again and she could see clearer than ever before. She’d felt it the previous night when she’d talked with him about The House and she felt it now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jem asked, gazing at her with those impossibly silver eyes. Tessa realized that she’d been staring off into space beside Jem’s head. At least she hadn’t been staring directly at him, she thought.

“Just wondering why you guys need my help for the project,” she replied. Jem shrugged.

“I’m not too sure either,” he said, surprising her, “Will just said you were coming with us to The House tonight.” Tessa furrowed her brow in thought. Why would Will just invite her without explaining it to Jem at least? Why would he invite her at all if not to help? 

“I wouldn’t stress about it,” Jem said, interrupting her thoughts. “Will usually has good reasons for what he does.”

“Usually?” Tessa echoed. Jem smiled at that. His gaze traveled from her face to over her shoulder and he quirked an eyebrow.

“Speak of the devil…”

“Oh, so you were talking about me?” Tessa turned to see Will with that cocky smile he usually had with Sophie and Jessie trailing behind him, looking unhappy to be there. She gave him a polite smile before standing and slinging her backpack over her shoulder and grabbing her tote bag in one hand.

“I brought what you asked for,” she said, trying to get him on track. 

He looked playfully offended as he said, “What, no hello? No ‘lovely to see you?’ I feel as if you don’t really like me after all.” Tessa couldn’t help the smile that curved up the corners of her mouth. She held out the gray tote bag for Will to take. When he did, he looked inside and grinned.

“Thank you much, Tessa. This will really help us.” On what was in the bag, he didn’t explain to the rest of their group. Instead, he announced, “Onwards, then! Let us arrive before sundown!”

\---

The House loomed above them, imposing and decrepit. At least, that’s how it must’ve looked to anyone but Tessa. She thought back on her experience with it last night. It still looked so sad. The one uncovered window that looked up into presumably the attic was drooping, like the frame might fall out any second.

Sophie breathed a heavy sigh before reaching into her own backpack and pulling out a surprisingly professional camera.

“Let’s get on with it,” she murmured. Something about this obviously made her uncomfortable; Tessa just couldn’t explain what it was. Sophie snapped a few pictures of the outside from the sidewalk.

“Oh, I’m  _ so glad  _ we came all this way to stare at an ugly old house,” Jessie complained. She tossed her blonde waves over her shoulder and crossed her arms, the perfect picture of a disgruntled socialite.

“Whoever said we were going to stare at it?” Will asked. He grinned at Jessie but it was a disingenuine one. It was almost as if Tessa could see that there was something underneath that could be shown if only she could scrape away the surface. Sophie started, almost dropping her camera as Will reached out and creaked open the gate.

It made a deafening sound. Tessa looked around to see if anyone had heard it and was coming to stop them but the street was eerily empty. She’d never seen the street empty, especially at sundown when rush hour was supposed to be in full swing.

She gazed back up at the house, suddenly full of apprehension. The setting sun glinted off of the attic window. The shadows in the corners of the building deepened. The House no longer felt sad; it felt angry.

“So,” Will said, turning to the rest of the group as the gate finished swinging open. “Who wants to go first?”


	3. just a peek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been so inspired to write this lately that hopefully i'll be cranking out chapters sooner!

No one moved. The group seemed to be collectively holding their breath. The first to go forward was Jem. He took one giant step forward and crossed the gate onto the property. His shoulders shook as a shiver presumably went down his spine. Without looking back, he started to go up the walkway.

Will shrugged and followed. Tessa was fast behind him. As she crossed that invisible line that separated the walkway from the sidewalk, she felt a chill wind its way around her neck and down her back. Something had changed in that instant. Some barrier had been crossed. Tessa didn’t know how easy it would be to cross back over into the real world.

She thought of it as the real world because as soon as she stepped on the walkway, the closer she got to the house, the more still everything became.

“We’re just looking, right?” Jessie asked from the back of the line.

“Why? Are you scared?” Will teased from in front of Tessa, not even bothering to turn around. She could hear Jessie’s sigh of disgust and it caused her to grin a little. She had a feeling that even though they argued and seemed to hate each other, they had at least some affection for each other. The affection between brother and sister. Brother and sister... Tessa’s thoughts almost trailed off in an unpleasant direction but she managed to tear herself away from them.

“It’s just a peek,” Jem reassured her from the front of the line. He’d finally reached the porch steps and walked up without fear. They creaked heavily under his weight but didn’t break.

“This is quite a textbook haunted house, isn’t it?” Jessie asked derisively.

“Whoever said it was haunted?” Tessa asked. Will chuckled, turning around as he walked up the steps.

“I’m fairly sure I did,” he replied with a smirk.

“No, you said-” She broke off as a huge crack sounded. Will cried out in pain. Tessa expected the crack to be a broken bone but as she looked down, she saw that one of the steps had buckled underneath him and he’d fallen to the side.

“Are you okay?” Jem asked, rushing over, careful not to add additional weight to the porch steps. Jessie and Sophie skittered backward off of the bottom step in fear of it breaking underneath them as well. Tessa, however, lunged forward to help Will stand. As she hauled him up, she felt something warm and wet where she was grabbing his forearm. Staunchly ignoring it, Tessa helped Will up onto the porch, skipping past the last step.

“Be careful coming up, guys,” Tessa called over her shoulder.

“I think we should just go,” Jessie said. “We’ve got our photos. This place is obviously falling apart.”

“Scared, Jessie?” Will asked through a grimace. Even though Jessie seemed to not like getting her hands dirty, she disliked being teased by Will even more. She huffed, a flush spreading over her cheeks. 

Sophie with her camera slung around her neck looked at Jessie then up at the house. She seemed to steel herself before walking up the first few steps, stretching her long legs out to skip the last two steps that seemed the worst off in terms of stability.

Jessie huffed once more before delicately picking her way up the steps, evidently determined to not be outdone. Tessa gave her a good once-over when she got to the top. She was wearing strappy sandals and a long-sleeved dress. They were nice enough clothes but not very appropriate for tramping around the outside of an abandoned house. She obviously hadn’t expected to get this close to the place.

To be fair, Tessa hadn’t expected to get so close either. Now that she was here, the house seemed even bigger and more foreboding. Sophie muttered something about taking more photos and moved off to the far side of the porch.

“This is exactly why I had Tessa bring this,” Will said, hefting the gray tote bag. He passed it off to Jem who started digging through it and produced a small first aid kit.

“Is that all that’s in there?” Jessie asked without much interest. Tessa chose to ignore her, looking at how carefully Jem placed a strip of gauze on Will’s wound and instructed him to hold it there. The blood was trickling down his arm slowly, bright red against his pale skin.

“Your hand… Is it okay?” Will asked as Tessa stared. She started, bringing her hand up to get a better look at it. Her palm was stained red, coated in a thin layer of blood. It made her stomach twist unpleasantly. She wiped her hand on her jeans and turned the denim even darker.

“Yeah. I’m not hurt,” she finally responded, remembering that Will had asked her a question. He nodded. Their gazes met with a strange electricity hanging in the air between them. Tessa felt herself flush before finally breaking eye contact.  _ Focus on why you’re here. _

She moved past Will and Jem to where Sophie was standing, looking intently through the photos she had taken.

“Would you like to see?” she asked as she slipped the strap over her head and held the camera out to Tessa. She nodded and took it, careful to not touch it with her still red palm, using her fingertips instead.

The pictures were beautiful and haunting. There were a few wide angles of the whole house as well as some that were zoomed in on specific parts of the architecture. She was looking at one such picture of the attic window. It… it might’ve just been the glare off the glass but Tessa could’ve sworn she was seeing a face.

“Hey, Sophie, did you see anyone in the attic when you took this?” Tess asked, turning the display so that she could see it. Sophie leaned over to peer at it and, after several seconds, she shook her head.

“I think that’s just the glare,” she replied. Her gaze was even despite the slight tremble of her hands when she reached to take the camera back. She was obviously uncomfortable with this group as a whole. Tessa was about to ask when Jem called her over. Sophie gave her a small, polite smile before moving away.

“You know first aid, right? Did I do this right?” Jem asked her, showing her how he dressed Will’s cut. Her response was too soft for her to hear but she did hear a bit of a thump from inside the house. Tessa whipped her head around to the right to where the window was.

Maybe it was just a bird. Maybe it was a stray dog or a raccoon. Maybe it was a squatter. If it was the last one though, she needed to tell her companions so they could get out of there and report it to someone. Though the window was boarded over, there was a small gap between the boards that she could peer through.

Tessa leaned forward slowly and put her eyes to the gap. The inside of the house was dimly lit with the only light coming from the setting sun that seeped through the various cracks and one uncovered window on the side of the house. How no one had broken it to get in was beyond her.

What little Tessa could see unnerved her. It was a living room decorated in the Victorian style. It was completely untouched as though the owners had simply stepped out for the night. There was a book open to a specific page sitting on a table next to an armchair. The fireplace had dusty old logs in it. It was so easy to imagine the place bustling with patrons of a bed and breakfast, sitting down for afternoon tea or reading by the fire.

It felt inhabited. It felt as though someone still lived there, watching and waiting and living their life. That was the part that unnerved her. The thought that someone could be there after all these years freaked her out to no end.

Her gaze skirted from the hardwood flooring to the plush velvet couch to the peeling wallpaper. On the right wall of the room, she could see what looked like big black lettering. It was at an angle where shadows fell over it and made it unreadable but she was certain. Someone had been there recently enough to write on the walks in jagged, crooked block letters.

Tessa jerked back from the window and looked to her left to see everyone staring at her. She swallowed around the lump in her throat before backing away from the window and pointing at it.

“I think there’s a squatter, guys. Or someone,” she added upon their expressions. Will and Jessie clearly thought she was crazy while Jem and Sophie looked genuinely concerned. “Look, someone wrote on the wall.”

Jessie was the first to move with a huff and a roll of her eyes. She obviously expected Tessa to be lying to freak them out but she went still when she peered inside. She leaned back quickly enough that Tessa could tell she didn’t like what she was seeing. This prompted the other three to come over and have a look for themselves.

“That’s not a good sign,” Sophie concluded after Will elbowed her out of the way. She glared at him briefly before turning back to Tessa.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Will asked. He reached once more into the tote bag hanging off his shoulder and produced another one of the oddly specific items he’d asked Tessa to bring: pepper spray.

“How much stuff did you bring?” Jem asked through a surprised chuckle. Tessa and Will exchanged looks and shrugged as if that was an explanation in itself.

“Well, I don’t know if anyone else saw this, but there’s an unblocked window right on the side of this place,” Will announced. “I say we go in.” Jessie cleared her throat and gestured down to her immaculate shoes.

“I’m not climbing through some window into a dusty, dirty house.”

“Then you can stay out here all by yourself while the rest of us go on and can’t hear you from out here when you inevitably get mugged,” Will snapped. Jessie was about to return a scathing retort but was cut off by Jem’s perpetually even tone.

“We’re not splitting up. We can go in, walk around for five minutes, and go. I’ll even time it on my phone,” he said with a pointed look at Sophie who had turned white as a sheet. She nodded solemnly, looking to Tessa for backup. She also quickly nodded. Now it was up to Jessie. Everyone turned to look at her. She threw her hands up in defeat.

“Whatever. Let’s just get it over with.”

“Great!” Will exclaimed with a devilish smile. “You can go first, Jessie.” He gestured to the porch railing they would all have to hop over with the steps now too hazardous to step down. With a comically loud groan, Jessie complied and landed surprisingly steadily on her own two feet.

As her companions started to follow, Tessa looked one last time inside. The words on the wall were mostly unreadable but she was certain that she could see the word “beware.”

A cold breeze picked up even though the day up until that point had been borderline sweltering. The breeze made its way through Tessa’s hair and brushed past her ears, causing her to shiver. After one last look, she followed Will and hopped over the railing, trying her best to ignore the pit growing ever larger in her stomach.


	4. dare you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that these are coming out slowly. it definitely won't be done before halloween but i thought it would be a fun story no matter when it gets finished! thanks for reading!

Tessa joined the group underneath the window. It was quite high off the ground, almost six feet up. Tessa hadn’t thought that the first level was quite that raised from her first glance at The House.

“How exactly are we getting in?” she asked, gazing up at the window.

“You can see that there’s a little edge you can grab onto,” Jem said, pointing up at it. He was eye level with the window and he peered in, raising himself up on his toes to get a better look. He grabbed said edge and started to lift it.

The window squeaked horribly, causing everyone to wince. Jem pushed it up as high as he could before backing away and brushing the dust and dirt the window had shed from his shoulders.

“Well, Jessie,” Will said, lacing his fingers together and getting down on one knee. “You first.”

“It’s so dirty,” she protested, looking at where Jem was still shaking his shirt to get the debris off of it.

“I think you’re just scared,” Will replied. He didn’t move from his position. Tessa cast a look over at Jessie whose back was straight and rigid. She couldn’t see her face very well from her position but no doubt she was scowling at Will. After a tense silence, she finally moved forward with a dramatic sigh.

She placed her foot on Will’s laced fingers and reached up for the window sill. He practically catapulted her up, pushing her through the window. She gave a short shriek and stopped halfway inside. Her legs kicked out, almost nailing Jem in the head. Tessa was quick to yank him back. He looked down at her with mirth in his eyes. She was also having a hard time not laughing out loud at Jessie’s predicament. Will and Sophie had no such problems.

They both laughed although Will’s was a much more boisterous laugh than Sophie’s giggle. Jessie gave an indignant cry and shouted at them to stop. She wiggled and slid forwards into the house, landing with an audible thump. Jem winced in sympathy at the noise but he was still smiling. Tessa looked up at him and paused.

His whole face lit up when he smiled. He was already beautiful but now, when he was happy and joking around with friends, he was practically radiant. He turned those stunning silver eyes on Tessa and she abruptly looked away, back to where Jessie was glaring at them from inside the house.

“I’m going to kill you, Will!” she exclaimed. Will just shrugged, still down on one knee. He gestured for Sophie to go next. She managed to get inside much more gracefully than Jessie did, probably because Will didn’t heft her up quite as violently.

“You ready, Tess?” Will asked. Her name fell from his lips like a caress and Tessa immediately knew she was in trouble. No one had ever called her ‘Tess’ before but, coming from Will, it felt so natural. As she stepped forwards, dry grass crunching under her feet, she cast a look back at Jem. He gave her an encouraging smile and a nod. Her heart skipped a beat.

She stepped onto Will’s hands and he lifted her up slightly so she could wiggle through the window. How Sophie had done this so gracefully, she couldn’t fathom. She fell forward until her bottom half was sticking out of the window much like Jessie’s had. The edge of the window was digging painfully into her stomach. Finally, she managed to wiggle forwards enough that she slid into the house and landed on all fours.

“Ugh,” she groaned as she straightened up. Her blue sweater was absolutely covered in dust from the window ledge as were her jeans. In fact, her knees were sure to be dirty as well, she noted as she looked down. She was kneeling on a dusty hardwood floor that had been marked by Jessie and Sophie’s footprints.

“Isn’t it just disgusting?” Jessie asked. Without looking up, Tessa said, “I know, right?”

“No,” she replied, “Not your clothes. This carpet.” Tessa turned her head to where Jessie was standing. Her once immaculate white dress now had streaks of dirt on her stomach all the way down to the hem. In addition to the dirt, she must’ve caught the edge of her dress on something on the window ledge because there was a small rip in the lace skirt.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” Sophie remarked, raising her camera to snap a few photos. Tessa found that she agreed. The house was decorated quite nicely for its time. It was as though they had stepped into a snapshot of a stereotypical Victorian household.

Jem tumbled in soon after Tessa before reaching out of the window to help Will scramble up the wall. They were both breathless after the whole ordeal but they were all inside at last. Will straightened up and looked around with fascination.

“This is cool,” he said with an impish grin. He reached out and dragged a finger down the lampshade of the standing lamp, drawing a line in the thick dust that coated it.

“Hey, Tessa,” Jem said as he walked over to her. He laid a gentle hand on her arm and cast a look over to the window. “I don’t want to freak everyone out but… wasn’t that wall where the writing was?” Tessa peered around him. She stopped breathing for a moment.

The wall next to the window was blank, save for the peeling wallpaper. That was where she’d seen the writing. She was so certain that she’d seen it and that everyone else had seen it too. Jem had definitely seen it if he was bringing it up to her now. Her expression must’ve been growing frantic because Jem placed his other hand on her other arm and met her gaze.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. A trick of the light. You’ve been on edge the whole time we’ve been here, you might be-”

“Seeing things?” Tessa asked hoarsely.

“I think we’re all letting the legend influence our experience of The House,” he replied calmly. Tessa sighed and nodded before glancing back at the wall where the writing had been. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she repeated. Jem nodded and gave her a small, reassuring smile. It didn’t do much to calm her down. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that their companions had disappeared.

“Guys?” Jem called.

“Over here!” came Will’s faint reply. They walked towards the sound of his voice and found that the three of them had gathered at the base of the stairs in front of the front door. Will turned his gaze on them. He had that devil’s grin again, indicating he was about to do something infuriating. “Who’s going up first?”

“I already went through the window first,” Jessie pointed out.

“Will, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Tessa said. He leveled her with a look that said that he was going to agree before Sophie cut in.

“I’ll do it,” she said. Letting go of her camera, she took four steps up, each footstep thumping unnaturally loudly on the steps. After those four steps, she paused. She tried to look up to the second landing but ultimately gave up and shrugged. “I don’t think there’s anything up there.”

“Oh, you’re just stalling,” Jessie said with far too much venom for such a small statement. Tessa glanced between the two girls, surprised at the animosity between them. Sophie flushed red on the tops of her cheeks and glared at Jessie. What was going on?

“Then you go up farther,” Will said to Jessie. “I dare you.”

“Fine. I will.” Despite her brave words and steel tone, she hesitated for a few moments before she walked up the steps, making sure to knock her shoulder into Sophie’s as she passed. Jessie only went halfway up the first flight of stairs.

“Is  _ that  _ where you’re stopping?” Will asked incredulously.

“Go higher then! I dare you!” Jessie almost shouted. Will was certainly getting under her skin, more than usual it seemed. What had happened while Jem and Tessa had been in the other room? Will stretched out his legs and took the steps two at a time, stopping a few steps above Jessie. He reached out and tugged at a lock of her hair.

“Well, that’s not much higher, is it?” Jem asked.

“I dare you to go higher,” Will said in a sing-song voice. Jem rolled his eyes at Will but met Tessa’s gaze for a moment.  _ There’s nothing to be afraid of.  _ And he was going to prove it by going up. She watched as Jem walked calmly up to the landing between the first and second flights of stairs. He stopped, looked around, and shook his head.

“Tess?” Will asked. “You gonna stay down there like a coward?” She narrowed her eyes at Will. He was obviously deflecting. Tessa tried to ignore him, crossing her arms and telling herself that he was scared too and that’s why he was being a bit of a dick.

“I told you she was losing it,” Jessie mumbled. Will reached out and shoved her shoulder. Sophie blanched and looked back up at her. So they’d been talking about Tessa. A small ball of anger flared to life in her chest. She wasn’t losing it. She was saner than any of them.

Tessa marched up the stairs, past Sophie, past Jessie, past Will, past Jem, all the way up to the second floor. As soon as she stepped up onto the second floor, she felt a feeling of triumph. She had proved them wrong. She wasn’t afraid, she wasn’t losing it. That feeling was quickly extinguished as she stared down the hall.

The hall was dark and shadowy. At the end of the hall, she saw something moving in the darkness, nothing more than a shadow on a shadow. She shut her eyes tight, willing it to go away. When she opened her eyes again, it was gone.

Jem was right, she thought with a sigh. There was nothing to be afraid of. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched by something that was deeply unhappy.

“What are you looking at?” Will asked from right behind her. Tessa suppressed the urge to jump as she turned to look at him. His face was earnest as he looked between her and the end of the hall. She debated whether or not to tell him. Out of all of them, he seemed the most likely to believe her. But Tessa shook her head and smiled.

“Nothing.”


	5. portrait

Tessa set her backpack at her feet and dug around in one of the pockets for a moment until her fingers closed around what she was looking for. Will had asked her to pack flashlights in the tote bag still slung over his shoulder but she always kept an extra in her backpack just in case. It was small and solid but it lit up the entire hallway.

As she reached back down for her backpack, Jessie reached the second floor and elbowed past Tessa. In the process, she kicked over her backpack, sending it sliding down the hallway and spilling out the contents.

“Jessie!” Tessa cried.

“Don’t leave it there next time,” Jessie replied snottily. She started to sashay down the hall, pausing when she came across a photo that had fallen out of Tessa’s bag. She bent to pick it up and examine it, turning it so Tessa’s flashlight shone on it.

“Who’s this?” she asked. Tessa’s heart stopped. She stared at the photo in Jessie’s hand and she floundered for an excuse.  _ My friend, my ex, my coworker- _

“My brother,” she answered. Jessie traced a finger down the length of the photo. Tessa knew what she was seeing. It was a picture of Nate and Tessa that had been taken several years ago. His sandy hair was windblown and his blue eyes were bright with laughter. His arm was wrapped around Tessa’s shoulders and she was hugging him back. They were both mid-laugh without a care in the world.

She remembered the day that picture was taken. She could smell the sea and the salt and hear the crashing of the waves and the shrieking of the gulls. They had gone to the beach along with Aunt Harriet and spent the whole day there. By the end of the day, they were slightly sunburnt and covered in sand. It was one of the last times she had been truly happy with a family that was unbroken.

“He’s quite handsome, isn’t he?” Jessie asked, bringing Tessa back to the present. She couldn’t bring herself to answer around the lump in her throat. “You should introduce us some time,” Jessie continued. Tessa mutely nodded and reached to take the photo back. Her hand was trembling.

When she knelt to pick up the rest of her things, Will knelt next to her. He quietly asked if she was okay, noting that her hands were shaking as she scraped her things together. His eyes were intense and his face was soft with concern. At any other moment, Tessa would’ve been caught up in his expression but now she simply wanted to disappear.

“Yeah,” she said, offering a smile, “I’m- I’m fine.” Will didn’t look convinced but he dropped the subject anyway. He reached around to grab the things Tessa had missed like pens and a few extraneous sheets of paper. She gave him a soft thanks before standing up and zipping her bag shut.

“Did you happen to pack flashlights?” Jem asked from behind them. Sophie peeked around him from a few steps further down. Tessa turned around, her cheeks flaming. It was hard enough that Jessie and Will had seen the photo of Nate but to have Jem and Sophie witness the interaction embarrassed her.

“Yeah, they’re in the tote,” Tessa said, gesturing to Will. Jem’s gaze lingered on her for a moment. Tessa quickly averted her eyes to where Will was doling out flashlights. There was an extra one which Jem scooped up and pocketed. Jessie snatched one up and strode down the hallway, flicking it on as she went.

“Let’s get on with it and get out, please?” she called in a droll tone over her shoulder. There had been a shift in the group’s demeanor. No one was particularly scared anymore, not after seeing that there was nothing in the house but dusty furniture. Tessa was rightfully wary and Jem seemed to share her hesitation but Sophie, Jessie, and Will seemed to be having a romp through The House. Will at least was delighted, especially when he opened a door at the end of the hall.

“You have to see this!” he shouted. The five of them gathered at the doorway to what seemed to be the master bedroom. The room was elaborately decorated with paintings and heavy curtains that blocked out any light that could have come in through the cracks in the window. There was a four-poster bed that still had a duvet on it, also covered in dust.

Will wasn’t talking about the decorations however. His flashlight was pointed directly at a painting across from the door that had been slashed to pieces. Parts of the canvas were dangling from the frame. All that remained intact was one blue eye peering out into the room. There was a lock of blonde hair that was slightly visible. From the shreds, Tessa could spot the remnants of a painted blue dress. Everything else in the room was untouched.

“Creepy,” Jessie sniffed.

“Who did that?” Jem asked. She shrugged.

“Probably a dog that wormed its way in here,” she said. Tessa’s chest tightened as she stared at that one eye that seemed to stare directly at her.

“Who do you think that is?” Jem asked. Will finally stepped forward so they weren’t all crammed in the doorway. Jessie followed and walked all the way up to the painting. She thumbed at the fraying edges of the slashes and pointed her flashlight down at where there were small shreds at her feet.

“What’s if it’s the wife?” Will asked with a casual smile. He raised an eyebrow. “It’d make sense, after all.” Sophie edged her way past Jem and Tessa into the room. She started going about the paint used and the style it was in. When Will started to question her, she defensively stated that she was minoring in art history.

“What’s he like?” Jem murmured at Tessa’s side. She dragged her gaze away from the painting and looked up at Jem. His face was soft and open.

“Who?” she asked.

“Your brother.” Tessa’s stomach dropped again. In her mind’s eye, she could see the picture that she kept in her backpack at all times, save for when she took it out to look at it occasionally. “I mean, I know he’s  _ handsome, _ ” Jem joked, “but what’s he like?”

No one had asked Tessa about Nate in a long time. Certainly, no one back home would ask. No one here even knew that she had a brother; that’s how she wanted it to stay. But now that the cat was coming out of the bag, she could control the version of the truth that people heard. Tessa thought about what to say for a moment. She settled on telling Jem what he was like before everything happened.

“He’s funny. A dreamer. A good brother. His name is Nate,” she said, remembering that she hadn’t told anyone his name. Jem nodded solemnly as though she’d given him a great secret. Perhaps, in a way, she had.

“What do you think?” Jessie called turning to Jem and Tessa. They both looked up to where the rest of their group was standing. Tessa realized that neither of them had been listening to what they were discussing or arguing about. Jem was the first one to recover.

“Hm? I’m not sure,” he said placidly. Everyone looked over to Tessa who simply shrugged, agreeing with Jem.

“You’re not sure whether or not Sophie knows what she’s talking about?” Jessie asked. Sophie’s brow was wrinkled in confusion and a little bit of hurt. Jem’s jaw dropped slightly and he shook his head quickly, trying to recover.

“No, no, I mean-”

“Jem, just say you weren’t listening,” Will laughed. They smiled at each other and Jem helplessly shrugged at Sophie.

“Sorry, Sophie,” he said. Sophie shook her head and rolled her eyes but a small, amused smile was on her face. Jessie sighed, her shoulders slumping. She waved her flashlight around the room once more before shouldering her way past Jem and Tessa back into the hall.

“I’m so tired of this stupid house!” she exclaimed as she made her way back down the stairs. The flash of Sophie’s camera filled the room with a blinding light for a moment, causing Tessa to turn her head back to the room and flinch.

“Nothing exciting’s even happened yet,” Will grumbled.

“Does anything exciting need to happen?” Tessa asked. He turned his gaze on her. She shivered from head to toe at the intensity of it. He gave her a smile that answered her question. Of course, something needed to happen. Wasn’t that the whole point of coming into The House in the first place?

“Come on, Tessa. There are more rooms to explore,” Will announced with a flourish, locking his arm around hers and leading her back down the hall. Jem’s laugh came from behind them along with an exasperated sigh from Sophie. Tessa couldn’t help but feel a bit amused herself.


	6. red

Will opened the next door over awkwardly with the flashlight in his hand. He fumbled around for a moment, trying to keep his arm locked with Tessa’s. Her amusement was growing the longer she gazed at him. The shadows on his face highlighted his angular cheekbones and his jawline. He was a classic handsome figure if she’d ever seen one.

He was quite an odd character, Tessa thought. In their first meeting, he had mystified and intrigued her. Immediately after that, he’d infuriated just about everyone around him. He constantly teased everyone but Tessa could see these small moments of vulnerability and sincerity that he seemed to try and hide. Despite the active rumor mill in the town, Tessa had never heard anything about Will or his family or what he was interested in.

“Tess?” Will asked. She started, realizing that she’d been staring at him. The door in front of them was wide open now. His eyes were dark in the shadows although Tessa could clearly imagine the color that they turned in the setting sun outside of The House.

“What? Yeah, let’s go,” Tessa said, fumbling over her words. She tugged her arm out of his and stepped forward into the room to shine her flashlight over the walls. This room wasn’t nearly as nice as the master bedroom.

The wallpaper was peeling. The duvet on the twin bed was clearly molding and the frame was rusted. There were no paintings or nice curtains or standing lamps. Dust practically hung in the air, illuminated by the last of the light creeping in through a gap in the boards that covered the window.

“I’ve certainly been in nicer places,” Will sighed. Tessa chuckled and froze in her tracks when Will said, “I like your laugh.”

“Thanks,” she said. For a moment, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. When she finally did, she saw that he was also standing still. He was staring at her with an incredibly tender expression. No one had ever looked at her like that. Something was stirring in her stomach, something new and foreign but not unwelcome. “Thank you,” she repeated, softer this time.

They both jumped when they heard a panicked shout. Will was the first to move, jumping immediately into action. He raced out of the room and into the open door immediately across the hall. Tessa followed just as quickly, her footsteps pounding on the floor.

In the room, Jessie was standing with her flashlight pointed at Sophie’s ashen face and Sophie was pointing her flashlight at the floor. 

A dark red stain covered a large oval of the warped floorboards with streaks leading towards the wardrobe. Tessa’s stomach twisted as she stared at it. Her gaze flicked between Sophie and the stain. Sophie raised her camera and snapped a photo of it, the flash blinding everyone in the room for a moment.

“It’s blood,” Jessie said with finality.

“We don’t know that,” Jem said, appearing behind Will and Tessa. They both jumped once more.

“What else could it be?” Jessie asked with growing disdain. Instead of looking afraid, she looked disgusted. Sophie, however, looked terrified. If it really was blood, Sophie obviously wasn’t used to seeing it which was odd considering her first aid certification. Briefly, Tessa wondered why Jessie was reacting with disgust and otherwise banality.

“Wine. Rust. A rendition of ‘Carrie’ that no one bothered to clean up,” Will said with a cavalier air. Jem huffed slightly next to him. Tessa looked over though and saw that Will was also white as a sheet. He was pale at the best of times but his now coloring was almost the same as Jem’s white button-down.

“Let’s just all remain calm. There’s really no way to prove if it is or isn’t blood,” Jem said calmly. He was the picture of cool authority as he spoke, glancing at each of them in turn.

“Even if it isn’t, we should call someone,” Tessa said. Jem nodded in agreement and put his hand to his back pocket. He paused, his brow knitting in confusion.

“What?” Will asked.

“My phone is gone,” he said. “I must’ve dropped it coming up the stairs. I’ll be back.” Jem strode off down the hall by himself. Will cast a look at Tessa before jogging after him. Jessie and Sophie also made their way out of the room with Sophie pausing in the doorway. Tessa hesitated by her. Her flashlight was pointed down at the stain on the floor.

“What is it?” she asked. Sophie didn’t turn away as she answered.

“It’s blood,” she replied.

“Sophie, we don’t know that.” Tessa placed her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. When she turned to face her, her scar stood out in startling clarity, the residual light from her flashlight making it look deeper and darker and sinister.

“I do know that.” With that last ominous sentence, Sophie turned and walked back down the hall. Tessa gazed at the stain for a lengthy moment. She couldn’t help but feel Sophie was right.


	7. eyes to the grave

_ She laid in her bed, eyes shut tight, trying to clear her mind of the sounds that had become ever-present. Screams, pleads, groans, moans… they haunted her every second of every day. _

_ The things she’d seen played behind her eyes every time she closed them. Bodies hacked to pieces, patterns carved into their skin, blood splattered everywhere. She sat bolt upright and turned on the lamp next to her bed. _

_ The other side of the bed was empty, the duvet pulled up neatly, made by the housekeeping staff earlier that day.  _

_ Their staff never stayed for long. They’d had to increase their pay quite a bit to keep them on and even then they’d leave. Unexplained happenings, they’d say. Noises from down the hall or on the floor above them when no one was supposed to be there. She couldn’t explain those but when her employees talked about noises in the basement, she knew exactly what was happening. _

_ “Darling…” he said, coming into the bedroom with a brown leather book in his hands. Her heart sunk. Not again. “Would you be a dear and sign for our guests?” _

_ She had no choice. She never had a choice. She took the fountain pen he offered her and he opened the book to the appropriate page. He pointed to the line she needed to sign on and the signature she needed to forge. She blanched when she saw the names. _

_ No… No. Not them. Anyone but them. He… They… _

_ “You didn’t,” she whispered brokenly. _

_ “I did. Now sign.” _

_ With tears steadily streaming down her face, she did as she was told. _


	8. lady of the house

Tessa pounded down the stairs to see that the group was standing off to the side of the front door. Jem was patting his pockets, both front and back, while Will searched through the tote bag. His phone must’ve still been gone. Tessa’s suspicions were confirmed when Jem asked her if she’d seen it.

“It has a black case. The screen is cracked. The ringer’s on so we should be able to call it but it’s apparently not going through,” Jem explained. Tessa put her finger up and went to look in the living room where they’d entered. It could’ve easily fallen out when he was climbing through the window.

She roved her flashlight over the floor and even peeked under the chairs and couch. There was nothing but dust bunnies. Her knees and hands were further dirtied by the rug. She sneezed and coughed once as the dust swam through the air having been disturbed by her crawling. Well, if it wasn’t here it must be outside.

Tessa leaned up on her knees and aimed her flashlight at the window they’d come through. She gasped out loud. Her stomach twisted and her heart dropped.

The window was boarded over from the inside.

But… but they had just come through it! They all crawled in through the window and it had been completely clear.

“W-Will! Jem!” she called. She kept calling their names until she heard their thunderous footsteps join her in the living room. “The window!” she cried before rushing forward.

“It was open before! We left it open!” Sophie cried. Tessa was pulling at the thick plywood with her fingertips. She peered down at the nails, trying to see where they were anchored. It looked like a nail gun had been used instead of a hammer. The plywood looked as though it had been there for a long time as well; it was just as dusty as the rest of the living room and seemed to be on the verge of rotting. Even so, Tessa couldn’t pry it off.

She took a few steps back, ready to run into it with her shoulder. Even if she broke the window, then at least they’d be out of there. She paused when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Whoa, Tess. It’s fine. We’ll get out some other way,” Will said. “There’s no need to break your shoulder over it.”

“It’s fine?!” Jessie cried. She glared at the window as though it had personally offended her before turning that glare on Will.

“This is a house, Jessie,” Will said with exaggerated patience, “There are  _ windows  _ and  _ doors _ .”

“Yeah, but everything’s boarded up. When we were outside, I saw the door had been padlocked from the outside,” Sophie chimed in. Tessa thought back on the outside of The House. It was true, every window and the front door were boarded over, even the ones on the second floor. Except for one…

“What about the one in the attic?” Tessa asked, interrupting whatever Jessie and Will were squabbling about. “The window in the attic. It wasn’t boarded up. It was small but we could get out that way,” she explained.

“Yeah, the attic! Wonderful idea!” Jessie snapped, “We’ll all just fall two and a half stories and break our legs!”

“It’s at least worth looking at,” Tessa said.

“I agree,” Jem said with his ever-steady gaze passing back and forth between Jessie and Tessa.

“How are we getting up there in the first place?” Jessie asked, obviously putting up as much resistance as she could to Tessa’s ideas.

“Let’s go look!” Tessa almost shouted. Whatever Jessie’s problem was with her, she was growing weary of it. She turned with a huff and started back towards the stairs. As she neared them, she heard a small thump and saw a bright light on the ground.

It was the screen of a phone. Probably Jem’s. She knelt to pick it up, eyes completely focused on the LED screen. Upon straightening, she shined her flashlight down the hall and blinked a few times to adjust to the sudden change in light. 

That’s strange, she thought, her flashlight had been so much brighter in the living room. In fact, it was growing weaker every second until it barely illuminated five feet in front of her, watery and weak.

“What is it, Tess?” Will asked. Wordlessly, she passed back the phone before turning back to continue peering into the dark. The longer she stared, the more something became visible.

A pale face, a blue dress, a blonde braid…

Tessa drew in a sharp breath. She closed her eyes like she had before but when she opened them, the woman was still there, half swathed in darkness. The flashlight did very little to illuminate her.

_ Maybe I really am losing it like Jessie said… _

Will swore behind her in Welsh. So he saw her too.

The woman stretched her hand out as though waiting for Tessa to take it. Her hand was pale and unmarked by dirt or dust or scars. She looked as solid as the walls that held up the house. Tessa’s hand twitched. She found an urge within her to reach out and grab onto it, if for nothing else than to see if she was real or not.

All at once, the darkness surged forward as though it was alive and began swallowing the woman. It crept up on her, wrapping around her body although it didn’t disturb her dress or hair. The last part of her to be swallowed u[ was her outstretched hand, beckoning for them to reach her.

She was gone.

Tessa turned around to look at Will to see that the others were also staring down the hallway in shock. They had seen her too.

Everyone was silent, holding their break, not daring to move out of fear and shock.

“What…” Jessie breathed, “was that?”

Sophie let out a small whimpering noise. Tessa instinctively reached out to grab her wrist and dragged her back towards the living room. Will and Jem, however, had different ideas.

“Ma’am?” Jem called as he rushed down the hall with Will right on his heels. Jessie hovered in the foyer before chasing after them.

Sophie and Tessa waited with bated breath, listening to their friends’ calls from the other room. They called for each other to look in certain areas and called for the woman who had disappeared. Finally, they all reappeared, slightly out of breath and their hair askew.

“She’s gone. It’s like she was never there,” Jem said. Sophie covered her face with her hands. Tessa let out a heavy sigh.

No one had explicitly told her The House was haunted but it had always gone unspoken. She had brushed off the rumors as just that: rumors. Hauntings weren’t real. Ghosts  _ weren’t real.  _

Except they were. The woman she saw was from the shredded painting. She knew that for a fact. It was a simple enough clue to put together but Tessa could feel it in her gut that the woman she saw had lived here and died here and still remained.

“We need to get out of here,” Tessa said grimly after a long moment of silence between the group.

“What if we can help her?” Will asked. His eyes were bright, showing that he had an idea. Sophie made a squawk of protest but Will was quick to cut her off. “We’ve all seen at least one horror movie. Let’s exorcise the ghost or help her move on or whatever.”

“Everyone dies in horror movies, William,” Jem said with an edge to his voice.

“I highly doubt we’re going to die. That woman might’ve killed her husband but she didn’t make any moves towards us.”

“That’s not what happened,” Jessie sniffed as she ran a hand over her hair to smooth it.

“So what did happen?” Will asked, crossing his arms. All the flashlights in the room pointed at Jessie, harshly illuminating her beautiful features. She sighed and dusted off the armchair nearest to her before perching daintily on the edge of it.

“As long as we’re stuck here, I might as well tell you the story I heard when I was young.” Despite the fear and the shock still lingering in the room, the mood lifted just a bit at Jessie’s dramatic flourishes. However, Tessa couldn’t help but keep glancing down the hall where the woman had been.


	9. scary stories

Jessie told her story with such a banal demeanor at first that Tessa wondered why she was even telling it in the first place.

“The wife had fallen out of love with her husband after they turned their mansion into a bed and breakfast. She developed feelings for the man who kept up the yard and planned on eloping with him. The night she was going to leave, her husband found out and brutally murdered her, the man she was going to run off with, and every other resident in the building.”

“It’s all just cut and dry like that?” Will snorted. Jessie sighed and looked up from where she was trying to get the grime off her manicured nails.

“I’m sure it was dramatic in the moment,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not one for all that Victorian betrayal and fuss that you see in classical literature. Unlike you, Will.”

“But you  _ love  _ behaving like a Victorian lady of the house,” Sophie mumbled. Before Jessie could snap back at her and start up an argument, Jem cut in.

“I’m sure that the real story is not nearly as riveting. Not every event that takes place is a novel waiting to be written.” Jem shrugged and leaned with his hands on a dusty windowsill level with his hips. “My uncle always said that the husband killed himself and, rather than remarry and live with the memories in the same house, the wife simply moved away never to come back. Tragic, yes, but a scary story? Not at all.”

Tessa flopped down on the old red velvet couch and rubbed her forehead with one hand. She rolled her flashlight between her palms as she thought about what had just happened. The woman and Jessie’s story and Jem’s theory…

“How do you explain the ghost then?” Jessie asked.

“I- I mean… who knows what that was?” Jem protested, stumbling over his words. Jessie scoffed at his rather pitiful answer.

“A hallucination?” Will posited. “Mass hysteria?” Jem gestured to Will as though that was a concrete answer. Everyone was silent for a few moments until Sophie turned back to Jessie. She asked in a timid voice, “Where did you hear that story?”

“My mother. She used to hang around The House as a teenager when she went through her rebellious phase,” Jessie said with a hint of wistfulness.

“I heard another version from my old schoolmates in primary school,” Sophie replied. Will turned his flashlight on her and lit up her face. Her scar looked like a deep crevice, a canyon. Tessa had only known Sophie for a few days but she had come so quickly to see the scar as a part of her. If she saw Sophie without it, she didn’t know if she would feel like the same girl she was quickly becoming friends with.

Despite knowing it wasn’t her business, Tessa couldn’t help but wonder where the scar had come from. It looked old enough to be part of her but not old enough to have grown with her. She almost blurted out the question then and there but thankfully Sophie started sharing her version of what had transpired in The House, saving her from asking.

“The couple did turn the place into a bed and breakfast and, as one is wont to do, the wife became very attached to her longtime residents. She’d see them every day, eat meals with them, run errands with them. With the children who stayed in the bed and breakfast with their parents, the wife would dote on them and play games with them and read to them at night in the den. 

“Well, the husband became jealous of her friendships with them. He snapped one night after seeing his wife and another female resident reading to the resident’s son. The son would always play with a white ball, rolling it down the stairs, and he would always ask the wife to read to him. He was still young enough that stories were fun and entertaining.

“The husband killed the resident and her son while they slept. Upon returning to the master bedroom, the wife saw him covered in blood and discovered his crime. She was so heartbroken and full of grief and shock that she seized a letter opener from the bedside table and stabbed him to death.”

Sophie took a deep breath after she was done speaking as though she was suddenly aware of how much she had spoken at one time. During her tale, she had talked with an air of unpleasant nostalgia about her. Maybe she had been taken back to the time she had been told about it, most likely at a sleepover with the lights off, trading scary stories between young girls.

“That’s such bullshit!” Despite the harshness of her words, Jessie giggled, seeming genuinely amused. Sophie shook herself out of her reverie and offered a small smile in return. For a moment, they were just college kids in a spooky house talking about scary stories like none of it was real.

“I, for one, still believe that the wife and husband were a murdering duo and the wife was covering up her crimes when she killed her husband,” Will said loftily. Tessa smiled and shook her head. After that, the silence set in and the mood came crashing back down.

Jem let out a heavy breath and pushed himself off of the window ledge, letting his flashlight dangle in his hand.

“So are we staying?” he asked the group. Everyone aimed their flashlights at him. He squinted and put a hand over his eyes to shield them. He looked incredibly pale in the LED glare of the flashlights. “There’s more house to explore but…”

“I want to figure out if this place is really haunted,” Will said.

“I, uh, don’t,” Jessie said as she stood. She smoothed out her skirt and marched back towards the stairs. She waved her flashlight all around and, upon finding nothing, she shrugged. “Are we getting up to the attic or not?”

“Before we all start jumping out windows, why don’t we check if there’s a back door?” Jem asked. Tessa started. Admittedly, when she thought of the attic escape route, she hadn’t even thought about a back door. Every house has a back door, Tessa thought, mentally smacking herself. 

“That’s actually a good idea,” Jessie said from the foyer.

“Jem is full of good ideas,” Tessa said, surprising even herself. He stopped and looked at her, his eyes shadowed over. It was impossible for Jem to hide the slightest blush, even in the dark. Tessa felt herself blush as well despite everyone looking back and forth between them. Jem was the first to break eye contact, clearing his throat and moving over to stand by Will.

Will’s gaze lingered on Tessa for a moment. His eyes were dark and stormy and sent a shiver down her spine. He eventually grinned, turning back to Jem like he hadn’t just stared Tessa down as though she had said something to offend him.

“Alright,” Will announced, still staring at Jem. “Back door it is.”


	10. locks

The group made their way collectively to the door at the back of the living room on the wall adjacent to where they had entered. Will was the first through the door with Jem bringing up the rear. Tessa had protested the line when it was first proposed but she rolled with it when it looked like neither Sophie nor Jessie was going to argue.

They passed into a formal dining room with a long wooden table with at least a dozen place settings. It was also frozen in time with dusty plates, artfully arranged napkins, and silverware that had long dulled. Tessa could practically see the people sitting there, enjoying their meals, laughing and conversing with each other.

They all quickly and quietly passed through the dining room and into the kitchen. Tessa didn’t pay much attention to what the kitchen looked like as her gaze zeroed in on the back door. She let out a heavy sigh of relief when she saw it. It had a small window that had been boarded over along with a padlock, effectively shutting them in.

Jessie shouldered her way past Will and seized the padlock in her fist, pulling and yanking on it. She eventually let go of it and banged her hands on the door in frustration.

“This is ridiculous!” she shouted.

“Jessie, chill out,” Will complained.

“Fine! Let’s find something to break it open.” Jessie was growing angry now. It was an anger that was almost scary to Tessa. 

When she had been banging on the door and tugging on the lock, Tessa had seen muscles cording her arms. Under all that lace and girlishness, Jessie was strong. She wondered why when she seemed to have such a disdain for getting her hands dirty. She shuddered to think of what could happen if Jessie was pushed much further.

“Yeah,” she agreed blindly, “Let’s find something. Maybe down that hall where we saw…?” Tessa trailed off, unwilling to finish her sentence.

“Let’s go,” Jem said, turning around to lead the way. This time it was much less organized with Jessie pushing her way to the front once more. Something had changed in her after she heard the stories that everyone had told. They must’ve really unnerved her, Tessa thought.

As Jessie approached the foyer of the house, she paused, shining her flashlight into the darkness. Upon seeing nothing, she breathed a sigh of relief but her face remained grim. She pushed forward without turning to see if anyone was behind her.

The first door that she reached, she yanked it open quickly. Tessa held her breath, expecting something awful to be there or something to jump out at them. Nothing did. It was simply an empty linen closet. The shelved were harshly lit up by all five flashlights aiming in the dusty, dank space. Jessie closed the door and marched down to the next door.

It opened on what seemed to be a bathroom with a claw foot tub that was grimy from years of unuse. Somehow it still had an inch or so of dirty water sitting at the bottom of it. The mirror was fogged over with dust, rendering their reflections indistinct; they were nothing more than shadows that moved slightly over one another.

Jessie stepped inside and gingerly knelt down to look for anything that might have fallen or rolled under the tub or behind the sink. There was nothing. She exited the bathroom in a whirl and practically raced down to the room at the end of the hall.

This room was standing wide open, inviting them inside. They all entered, not having spoken a word between them in quite some time, and silently spread out to look for anything to help break the lock.

It was a study, Tessa noted. There were floor to ceiling shelves that were packed full of books. Some of the titles and authors were still legible and familiar to Tessa. From what she’d heard, they were familiar to Will as well. Charles Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and the like. Her fingers twitched with the urge to reach out and grab the books from the shelves and crack them open ever so gently if for no other reason than to enjoy the feeling of the wrinkled, aged paper between her fingertips.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Will murmured over her shoulder. Tessa nodded slowly, her flashlight roving over the books. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was, caught up in the admiration for literature, especially antique literature.

“Yeah. They are.”

“I say we each take an armful and haul them out of here. We can come back with a few wheelbarrows for the rest,” Will said. Tessa couldn’t help the smile that came over her face. When she turned to look at him, however, he had moved to the opposite side of the room to look in the drawers of a bureau. Her brows furrowed in confusion but she turned back to the task at hand.

They had been searching in silence for what felt like hours to Tessa when Sophie exclaimed from the front of the room, behind a large wooden desk.

“I found something!”

“An axe?” Will asked hopefully.

“A key?” Jem asked at the same time. Sophie shook her head and squinted when everyone pointed their flashlights at her. She hefted a small box in her hands, no bigger than a standard laptop these days. It was polished, carved wood, obviously untouched by the age of the house.

“Why is it so… pretty?” Jessie asked for a lack of a better word.

“It was in a compartment in a drawer. I guess the owner wanted to hide it,” Sophie said, looking down at the box in her hands.

“What’s in it?” Will asked excitedly as he moved forward.

“I don’t know, it’s locked,” she replied, turning it so everyone could see the lock. It wasn’t a little padlock that could be simply smashed open. It had a keyhole that looked pristine. The gold shined out into the darkness surrounding them.

“Any theories? It’s too small for a head,” Will said with a comical shrug. Jessie sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Probably some boring old ledgers and finances for the bed and breakfast.”

“Let’s not be so quick to assume, Jessie,” Will said, reaching for the box. As soon as he grabbed onto it and pulled it from Sophie’s hands, a resounding crash sounded on the other side of The House.

Everyone jumped and turned, shining their flashlights at the dark doorway. Tessa’s heart was hammering in her chest, her breathing speeding up. Her anxiety spiked. There was no one else in The House with them. There couldn’t be, they came in through the only entrance and that was now closed off.

“Should we… check it out?” Sophie breathed.

“Not like there’s much else to do,” Jessie said. She looked down on the desk where Sophie had strewn about her various findings from the desk drawers. Letters, stamps, envelopes, old leatherbound books, parchment paper, and a dimly glistening rusted letter opener. Jessie snatched up the letter opener and, giving everyone one last grim look, marched out the door.

Tessa followed quickly, instinct pushing her to be with the one person with a weapon. She heard footsteps chase after her, presumably everyone else, but she turned around just to check. Tessa jogged to keep up with Jessie’s quick pace as she walked through the living room, through the dining room, and into the kitchen.

Tessa could see Jessie’s slim, pale hand tighten on her letter opener. She was quick to bring up her flashlight and shine it around, trying to find the source of the crash. All the windows were still boarded up and the padlock on the door stood stock still. When she saw it, she gasped.

A cabinet had been opened and several plates had been smashed to the ground. The sharp edges were smeared with blood, bright red against the white of the china.


	11. kitchen dangers

“Oh, god,” Will said with disgust as he caught up to them and looked upon the mess. Tessa waved her flashlight around the room, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever it was that caused the mess and hurt themselves. There didn’t seem to be enough blood for whoever it was to be seriously hurt.

“Who else is in here with us?” Sophie whispered as if the person was going to hear her and pounce.

“Who says it isn’t the ghost?” Will asked as he knelt down and examined the china closely. Jem sighed but didn’t say anything. Tessa could tell he was trying to be stoic and not acknowledge the truth of what they had seen. To be fair, Tessa hadn’t wanted to see it either.

“Do ghosts bleed?” Jessie asked with mild interest. Tessa gazed up at her. Her mood was oscillating between furious and hardly bothered. Why? What was going on here that was throwing her off so badly? Sure, they were all freaked out at this point but her moods were downright offputting.

“Are you okay?” Tessa asked softly, backing up to where Jessie stood. She was always standing a bit away from the group as though she wanted to distance herself from them. Jem’s gaze followed Tessa who gave him a look that she hoped he could interpret. His gaze flicked in between the girls before he knelt down next to Will and began another soft conversation.

“Why?” Jessie asked. She gazed stonily down at the mess of shattered china.

“You just seem… upset.”

“Sophie’s upset too,” Jessie said. She still hadn’t looked away from where she was staring but her face was softer now.

“I know but you keep getting angry and then shoving it back down,” Tessa supplied. For a moment, neither of them spoke. She hoped that she hadn’t overstepped her boundaries as an acquaintance. Although, with everything they’ve gone through, Tessa hoped that Jessie saw her as a peripheral friend at least.

“I’m always angry,” she murmured. Her brown eyes looked black in the darkness, the shadows half-hiding them. “My parents were police officers. They wanted me to be just like them and put that as a condition in their will. I wouldn’t get any financial assistance or my inheritance if I didn’t at least get a degree in criminal justice.”

“And they’re…”

“Dead,” Jessie said flatly. “Killed in a fire. It destroyed our house and now I live here in a shabby apartment with three other girls. I have never wanted to be a police officer. I have only ever wanted to leave this wretched college town and go back home. Live a comfortable life. Neither I nor my husband will ever get shot or hit or injured by a filthy criminal.”

The last few words were spoken with such vitriol that Tessa was taken aback. She knew that Jessie was hiding her anger but it apparently went much, much deeper than that. This was raw, unbridled hate. 

Her strength and bravery now made sense, however. No matter what she tried to say, no matter how many dresses she put on, no matter how many curls she put into her hair, she was a fighter. She chased after the apparition. She grabbed the letter opener when faced with a threat. Even as Tessa gazed at her, she could see the muscles under the sleeves of her dress.

Tessa understood what it was to have to leave your home and long for it, only to know you can never return. She understood it all too well.

“Is that why you want to meet my brother?” Tessa asked, trying hard not to trip over the words.

“If I can just… If I can just have some financial help to get out of here, then I won’t need my inheritance. I can get a job somewhere else. Like a women’s style consultant or a nanny,” Jessie added. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly now. “I’m almost twenty-one. I’m almost done with university. You’re only nineteen, Tessa. You have no idea what it’s like to be on that precipice where nothing is certain. Any foreseeable future on the path you’re headed down is miserable.”

“I’m… so sorry, Jessie,” Tessa said. Jessie finally turned to look at her with a manic look in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but she was cut off by the boys standing up. Her jaw snapped shut and she turned back to their companions like they hadn’t been discussing anything of import.

“There might be a blood trail we can follow,” Will suggested. 

As he moved towards the entrance to the kitchen, something flew out of the darkness. It was nothing more than a shadow that passed at eye level through the beams of their flashlights. A thump sounded on the wall behind Will who was standing stock-still. Sophie jumped violently in Tessa’s periphery.

Jem rushed up and aimed his light through the empty doorway. There was nothing there. When they all turned to look at what had flown past them, they saw a knife stuck into the wall. Tessa’s stomach twisted unpleasantly.

Whatever threw that could’ve killed Will. She found tears springing to her eyes at the thought. Tessa willed them back and carefully walked up to the knife. She began to grasp it when Jessie clamped onto her wrist.

“Don’t leave fingerprints on it,” she murmured. Tessa nodded and wrenched her arm out of her grasp.

“Looks like our lovely spirits aren’t too happy with us being here,” Will said, always ready with a sarcastic remark, even in the face of death or serious injury. Tessa sighed and moved closer to him.

“Does anyone see any blood?” Jem asked as he scanned his flashlight over the warped floorboards.

“No,” Sophie said as she looked down. Will and Jessie also said they didn’t see anything. Tessa, however, thought she saw a few drops near the entrance to the kitchen. She walked over and knelt down.

The drops were fat and shiny and dark red, right next to the baseboard. It was certainly blood and not from any of them.

“I found something,” she called. As she straightened up to point it out to her companions, her flashlight turned off. Tessa’s heart immediately started pounding despite the four other lights in the room. The thought of wandering around in The House blindly was enough to send her mind spinning with anxiety.

She frantically toggled the switch on her flashlight four, five, six times and nothing happened. She looked to her friends who were nothing more than silhouettes with bright circles of light aimed at her.

“It’s my light,” she explained, “It’s out.” She flicked the switch to show them. Will stepped forward, lowering his own light to examine hers. As he did, the light pointed at their feet flickered out.

“Let’s get moving before anyone else’s light runs out of battery,” Jem said. He swooped forward and offered his arm to Tessa. She looped her arm through his, unable to muster even a grin as he led her along, searching the floor for a blood trail.

Tessa didn’t know if she wanted to find the end.


	12. lights out

Tessa walked along with Jem leading the way, slightly ahead of her. She tried her best to avoid tripping or stumbling but the floorboards were warped and uneven. Even her sensible tennis shoes were having a hard time. With all of their lights pointed at the ground, furniture and decorations seemed to loom up out of the gloom, passing them by slowly before disappearing once more.

She glanced back to make sure that everyone was following and saw that Sophie was directly behind her with Will and Jessie bringing up the back. They, too, had linked arms although they looked decidedly unhappy about it. A small flicker of amusement flared to life in her chest, although it was quickly extinguished as she turned forwards and saw that Jem had almost led her directly into the red velvet couch in the living room.

“Give me a second,” she mumbled, unhooking her arm from Jem’s. She scooted around the edge of the couch and knelt to where she’d left her backpack. She quickly tucked the flashlight into one of the pockets before zipping it up and returning to Jem. His arm was steady and strong, leading her forward until they stepped into the foyer.

“Okay, it looks like it goes up…” Jem said, roving his flashlight up the stairs as they reached them, “... here.” Tessa involuntarily shivered. Upstairs was where the red stain was. Upstairs was where she’d seen the shifting shadow. Upstairs felt like a world away to Tessa despite having looked in every room.

Although they’d thoroughly explored The House by now, it still felt so alien and unfamiliar. She felt as though she’d take one turn or open a door and find a completely new room or corridor with something waiting down there for her.

“Are you sure?” Jessie asked in a hushed voice.

“Halfway up, there’s a smear,” Jem replied, equally hushed. Tessa was able to spot it against the beige patterned wallpaper. It looked like the outline of four fingers and the top of a palm.

“Who’s bleeding, though?” Tessa whispered. That was the question that had been itching at the back of her mind. At best, it was a ghost. At worst, there was a whole other person that had been in The House with them the entire time. Just the thought of it made Tessa’s heart stop beating.

“If it’s someone that’s hurt, we should help them,” Jem said. Will solemnly agreed from the back. Tessa found herself going along with that train of thought as well. She couldn’t stop imagining the dangers that were up there, however. 

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She remembered the person that she was when they started exploring The House, how she ran up the staircase to prove her bravery and had gone farther than anyone else. She remembered her penchant for asking questions and her curiosity. These forces should be driving her now, not her fear.

“Let’s go,” Tessa announced. She pulled Jem forwards and they ascended the narrow staircase together. Their steps sounded unnaturally loud but they pressed on. As soon as they reached the second floor, Jem waved the flashlight down to search for more blood droplets.

They took a couple of steps forward to allow room for the others but as soon as they did, Jem’s light went out. It was quickly followed by Jessie and Sophie’s lights going out. The group fell silent for a moment. Tessa felt as though she could hear everyone’s breathing and heartbeats.

All at once, they clamored for Will who still held the tote bag. Will shouted at them to be quiet while he tried to look. Tessa was certain that she had packed batteries in there but as she listened to Will rummaging around she became less and less sure.

_ Flashlights, first aid kit, pepper spray, a pocketknife, a book… batteries?  _ As Tessa waited with bated breath, she heard a faint whisper down the hall. She whirled around, unhooking her arm from Jem’s, and stared down the corridor even though she couldn’t see anything but shadows.

“Jem? Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Hear what?” 

_ “That!”  _ she hissed as she heard it again. “There’s someone else here with us.”

“Probably a squatter. Someone harmless who’s been trying to avoid us this whole time,” Jem said in a level voice although she could hear it tinged with panic. A thump and a shout came from below them, far enough below that Tessa could tell that it came from the first floor.

“Who’s there?” Jessie shouted bravely. There was no answer. “I have a weapon!”

“And companions!” Will added on. A small thump indicated that she socked him in the shoulder. Another loud thump and silence.

“We should gather ourselves in one of the bedrooms,” Sophie offered. At the same time, Will said, “Let’s go look.”

“No! Don’t split up!” Tessa shouted but he and Jessie were already pounding down the stairs.

“Then come with us!” Will called behind him but he didn’t slow or stop. Tessa sighed but turned back down the hallway anyways. There was no possible way she was going to chase after Will and Jessie headlong into possible danger, totally unarmed.

She briefly considered which room to go into. There was the master bedroom, a bathroom, the room with the red stain… But they had to avoid that one. She couldn’t explain the gut feeling she had against that room but she knew she didn’t want to go into it.

Jem gently gripped her hand and asked Sophie to grab his other hand. “Lead us on, Tessa,” he said softly. “I trust you.”

She took a deep breath and started forward. She stepped carefully, feeling over the warped floorboards for any dips or divots that she could trip over. With a hand extended to the side to feel along the wall, Tessa tried to construct a map of the upstairs in her mind. 

At the end of the hall was the master bedroom. Across from that was a bathroom. Down the hall, in succession, were three more bedrooms. Tessa was fairly sure that it was the one next to the bathroom that held the red stain but she was no longer sure how far down the hall she had gotten.

It would have to be the next door that she came upon that they entered. They didn’t have much time to regroup and she could no longer hear Will and Jessie downstairs. The thought that something may have happened to them caused her heart to feel as though it was seizing in her chest.

Finally, Tessa’s hand came upon the edge of a doorway. The door was closed but she eventually found the knob and opened it, stepping inside. As she did so, Jem’s hand slipped from hers.

“Jem?” she asked.

“I’m here. But I’ve lost Sophie.” Tessa inhaled sharply and grappled for the edge of the doorway, leaning out into the darkness of the hall. She strained her eyes as hard as she could to try and search for any shadow upon a shadow, any hint to where Sophie might be. The longer she stared, the more the darkness shifted in front of her. Sometimes, the shapes even shifted into the silhouettes of people.

It put the thought in her head that someone or something could be standing in front of her without her knowing. Her heart started racing faster than it had been. She was tempted to reach out to see if anyone was out there.

_ “Tessa.” _

The whisper came down the hall from the way she had come. It sounded uncertain, though familiar. Her first thought was Will. It had to be him with Jessie not far behind. But what if it wasn’t?

“Will?” she asked.

_ “Tessa.”  _ There it was again. It sent a chill down her spine.

“Will, if you’d just speak up…” she said, trailing off with uncertainty. Jem hadn’t said anything from behind her for the whole time. She looked back, knowing that she was going to see nothing but darkness, before whipping her head back around to the hall. “I’m going to go look, Jem,” she said to what felt like emptiness behind her. There was no response.

Tessa gingerly stepped out into the hall, keeping one hand on the wall next to her to guide her way. She didn’t make it farther than maybe ten steps before she felt it.

There was someone in front of her. She could  _ feel  _ them.

She reached hesitantly outwards and made contact with a person. A bicep, corded with muscle, covered in a shirt. Her first instinct was to jerk back but a hand grabbed hers and linked their fingers together. They were a man, tall and broad from what she could glean from where she’d touched them. His hand was calloused like he had worked his whole life.

“Tessa,” the voice came again. This time it was right in front of her but it wasn’t Will. The voice was low and rough and. It. Wasn’t. Will. 

Tessa jerked backward and fell onto her back. She scrambled back before trying to stand and ran the best she could, completely blind. She veered towards the right and smacked into a wall with her shoulder. She felt along the wall for a door, suddenly aware of the fact that she was sobbing, chest heaving, desperate noises escaping her that she had never heard before.

A light flared to life down the hall, pointed directly at her. She blinked a few times but in those moments of confusion, she shouted.

“No!”

“Tess! Tess, it’s me!” The light rushed forwards and was lowered so she could see the person’s face. She didn’t have to see him for her to know who it was. Only one person called her Tess. 

Will’s face was gaunt in the light as he knelt next to her. Tessa had slid down the wall and leaned her head against it, hands held protectively against her chest.

“Will, I…” she started but she started sobbing again.

“What happened, Tess?” he asked. He carefully laid the flashlight down and cradled her face in his hands. His thumbs wiped her tears as she tried to regain control of herself. She hated crying in front of others, even Will, who she had come to care for so deeply over the course of just a few hours.

“There’s someone else here with us,” Tessa said through her hitching breaths. Will stared at her before gathering her up into an embrace. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck and breathed him in. They sat there kneeling like that for what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes.

Eventually, her breaths evened out and she was able to lean back and wipe at her face. She couldn’t erase her tear tracks or her red eyes but she could try to minimize the damage.

“Where are the others?” she asked.

“I lost Jessie downstairs. I’ve no idea where Jem and Sophie are,” Will answered solemnly.

“Well, we have to find them,” Tessa replied. The corners of Will’s mouth ticked up in a grin.

“Yes,” he agreed, still looking at her with those impossibly soft eyes. The look faded slowly as they stood before it was gone entirely. He bent to pick up the flashlight and when he straightened, he was all business. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> have any infernal devices requests? want me to write for any fandom that i'm in? drop a request in the comments or on my tumblr at: nicholas-di-angelo


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